East Gwillimbury votes to add two councillors, go to hybrid ward system

Yorkregion.com
June 21, 2017
By Simon Martin

East Gwillimbury council is going to look different in 2018. Council confirmed they are moving to a hybrid ward system and adding two councillors at a council meeting June 20.

The hybrid system proposed by Coun. Tara Roy-DiClemente would include four ward councillors and two at-large councillors. The change will bump the size of East Gwillimbury council from five members to seven members. The current five member council size is the smallest allowed under the Ontario Municipal Act.

The decision wasn’t without disagreement. The vote to adopt the hybrid system passed 3-2 with Couns. James Young and Marlene Johnston voting against the move.

Johnston, who spoke out against the change at the June 6 council meeting, presented a notice of motion asking for a ballot question on the matter in 2018 after council passed the change.

The system council adopted was not one suggested by consultants who performed the electoral review or town staff.

The electoral review consultants the town hired recommended council move to a ward system that would feature three wards - Holland Landing, Queensville-Sharon and Mount Albert-rural - in the 2018 election, with two councillors each. In the following election in 2022, there would be five wards, as the Holland Landing and Queensville-Sharon wards would be split and the Mount Albert rural ward would remain intact.

Town staff responded to the consultants' report earlier this year with a report recommending East Gwillimbury not move to a ward system in 2018, but add two more at-large councillors. At the time, town clerk Fernando Lamanna said the preferred option of a ward system was confusing because boundaries had to change after one election.

Town staff said they would need some time to figure out ward boundaries for the four wards. Staff will come back to council later this year with a detailed report about how the new system will work.

According to the staff report it would cost approximately $140,000 to add two additional council members. The current cost per councillor would be approximately $70,000 inclusive of salary and benefits, office furniture and hardware, and expense allocation.